Two years ago, Pingry’s Lower School Librarian Sarah O’Holla signed up for a dance class on professional development day at Pingry. The class was taught by Lower School Performing Arts Teacher Erin Strong, Ms. O’Holla took the dance class on a whim. “I signed up for it as just one of those fun, ‘try something new’ type of PDs,” she recalls. Before long, she was dancing, moving, and listening to Ms. Strong talk about a legendary dance instructor named Luigi. “During the class, she started talking to us about Luigi, a dancer and choreographer that she studied with. She started telling us about his remarkable life story.” As Ms. Strong shared the story of Luigi (full name Eugene Louis Faccuito), an iconic teacher and dancer who developed a jazz exercise technique that is studied to this day, Ms. O’Holla was captivated. “I was rapt and just loving every second of it and connecting it to the dances we were doing,” she says.
The wheels in her head began turning. “I’m a children’s librarian, but I also write books… so I just had a thought,” she said slowly. “I wonder if anyone’s ever written a book about Luigi?” She began envisioning a picture book biography on Luigi for children to read. After the class finished, Ms. O’Holla went up to Ms. Strong and asked if there were any books written about Luigi. Ms. Strong, who had studied dance with Luigi and done research during her Master’s program on him, knew no books had ever been published about Luigi. So, Ms. O’Holla suggested they work together on a children’s book about his life. “And Erin, being so positive and enthusiastic, just immediately said yes.”
They began work on it right away, with Ms. Strong sharing articles, research, and videos for Ms. O’Holla to study and gain a better understanding of who Luigi was. After immersing themselves in the project, they took their ideas and put them down on paper. Soon, Ms. O’Holla wrote a draft and shared it with Ms. Strong. Yet, just as quickly as it came together, the project began to stall as work and life got busy. “The next thing we knew, school was starting,” Ms. O’Holla explains. Their focus was required elsewhere, and, despite their excitement, the draft was languishing. “But then the Spark Grant was announced,” says Ms. O’Holla with a smile, “and I sent it to Erin and I said, ‘Maybe our project could be a Spark.’”
It could not have come at a better time. “The Spark Grant is just the thing we needed because we have this great idea,” says Ms. Strong, “and there really is a lack of children’s books about dancers in general, but Luigi’s story is so remarkable, and the great thing I love about Sarah is that she helped me see that his story is not just for people who study dance.” Luigi, who suffered devastating injuries from a car accident, was told he would never again recover. “Even before he woke up,” shares Ms. Strong, “he remembered that when he was in a coma, he heard this inner voice saying, ‘Never stop moving. Never stop moving. If you stop moving, kid, you’re dead.’ So when he came out of the coma and the doctor said, ‘You’re probably never going to walk again’, his inner voice said, ‘I’m not just going to walk. I’m going to dance!’” Indeed, Luigi went on to become an iconic jazz teacher and choreographer, despite never fully healing from his injuries. They knew his story had appeal far beyond the dance community. “His story is one of determination and finding it within yourself on how to overcome hardship,” says Ms. Strong. “Sarah helped me see that universal story, to tap back into it again.”
What is a Spark Grant?
The idea for a Spark Grant was the brainchild of Head of School Tim Lear, who was hoping to encourage a culture of innovation and creativity within the Pingry community. By providing funds for Spark Grants to faculty and staff to partner with their colleagues from across different departments and divisions on a project, colleagues would engage in meaningful collaboration with their peers.
“Tim was very adamant that he wanted to find a way to reward inspiration,” explains Director of Academics Brian Burkhart. “He wanted to find a way to give faculty the time and space to work on a project that doesn’t necessarily have a concrete deliverable to it, because a lot of the work that we do here does—and rightfully so,” he adds. But Mr. Lear envisioned a program that inspired the Pingry community to explore the process, with the destination unknown. And, just as importantly, the work would not necessarily be tied to their day-to-day roles.
The Spark Grant began with an application process where interested faculty and staff would fill out an Ember Form to share a brief description of their idea and who they planned to partner with. After a review process, select applicants were invited to fill out the full application a few weeks later, and the final decisions were announced during June Meetings Week. Recipients received $3,500 per person, as well as coverage for additional expenses, for a period of one year while they worked on their idea. They were also assigned a support team to guide them through the process and tackle any obstacles they encountered.
In addition to Ms. Strong and Ms. O’Holla’s children’s book on Luigi, two additional Spark Grants have been awarded. One is to Assistant Director of Communications, Internal Strategy Jennifer Belcher and Director of Middle School Athletics Gerry Vanasse for the development of a robust dance program in the Middle School. The third Spark Grant was awarded to Upper School English Teacher Dr. Barrett Ward, German Teacher Dr. Igor Jasinski, and Middle School History Teacher Kori Lyons to establish an Ethics and Philosophy (E&P) Department that spans all three campuses and grade levels, from the Lower School through the Upper School.
“This was meant for anyone in the community to be able to say, ‘Hey, we have this common interest’”, says Mr. Burkhart. “‘We think something cool could come out of it. Let’s just see what happens.’ And even if the thing that comes out of it isn’t what they thought it was going to be, or it ends up not being anything that the School necessarily even uses going forward, we think it would be a worthy professional development experience for those folks who got to work together and have those conversations together. It’s really about Tim’s vision for connection and building community and following the spirit of that.”
With the support of the Pingry community, Ms. O’Holla and Ms. Strong have already completed the first draft of their children’s book. With the resources provided from the Spark Grants, Ms. Strong had the opportunity to participate in a Luigi Summer Dance Workshop in Manhattan, while Ms. O’Holla attended the Highlights Writer’s Professional Development Summer Retreat for children’s nonfiction books. They have plans to explore children’s book fairs to study what other children’s biographies are being published today. And, when they feel their book is ready, they will be testing it out on none other than Pingry’s fifth-grade Dance Makers—so-called because they learn the art of creating dancing and choreography—to see how they respond.
“The Spark Grant was the fuel we needed to keep the spark alive,” Ms. Strong emphasizes. “We had this spark, but then it felt like it started fizzling out because we have other demands. But having the Spark Grant is fueling us to feel that there is something really good here. The School believes in it now. That helps fuel us.”
Ms. O’Holla agrees. “To feel the support from Pingry just makes it even more exciting to work on.”
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To contact the author: Sara Courtney